Mike Brown has no issue with center

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown said he has no problem with Lakers center Andrew Bynum on Thursday despite benching him for most of the second half on Tuesday.

Brown also believes Bynum is having a career season in part because of the new system Brown installed this season.

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Bynum has not spoken to the media since Tuesday, but Brown said the center's benching has not affected their relationship and that the coach is still communicating with Bynum as he normally has this season.

"I just coached him," Brown said. "Whatever I need to talk to him about on the floor, I coached him. There's no problem between Andrew and I. I coached him just like I normally have. If I'm in charge of a play-set those guys are scripting and Andrew has a question or I got to tell him, 'Hey, Andrew, do this or do that,' or if he says, 'Hey, Coach, what's this or what's that.' I just coach him."

Bynum was removed from the Lakers' 104-101 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday with 9:33 left in the third quarter after he attempted a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 16 seconds left on the shot clock.

The Lakers were holding to a quickly-fading six-point lead at the time. Bynum started the fourth quarter, but was taken out for Josh McRoberts with 9:10 remaining in the game and did not return.

Brown said the incident has not changed the way he views Bynum and believes his 24-year-old center has come into his own this season.

"He's been great," Brown said. "I don't have any complaints with Andrew. He's averaging (18.2) points per game and (12.2) rebounds. If you look at his first four years here, I don't think he came anywhere near that production. I think he's doing fine. I think he's flourishing in what we have planned for him."

After he was benched on Tuesday, Bynum's maturity was called into question as he was seen laughing with teammates on the bench and recreated the shot that got him removed from the game.

Bynum also remained seated during several fourth-quarter timeouts and did not join his teammates in the huddle. Brown seemed to want to chalk up Bynum's behavior to a bad day and wanted to move on from the topic on Thursday.

"I know for sure I'm not on my 'A' game every day and I don't know if anybody else is," Brown said. "You'll have to talk to him. I'm not going to question this or question that with any player. You'll have to ask him if he felt something was wrong. I'm going to coach the team the way I think helps us win."